


From Textbooks to Building Blocks

by WordSmithBreaker



Series: A Child's Mind [3]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-27
Updated: 2016-03-27
Packaged: 2018-05-29 09:45:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6369922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WordSmithBreaker/pseuds/WordSmithBreaker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With his preprogrammed knowledge, school wasn't much of a challenge for Superboy. Too bad his way of dealing with it clashed with the Principal's. But an old friend as a new idea.</p>
            </blockquote>





	From Textbooks to Building Blocks

Superboy hated a lot of things about his school: the smell, the color of the walls, the teachers that constantly accused him of cheating, and the hordes of peers that he couldn't relate to in any way. Just to name a few things.

Right now he hated the smell of the dying flowers in the receptionist's desk, how the receptionist was looking at Red's human body, and how the principal was making them wait until exactly 9:30 to call them in.

A barely audible growl rumbled in Superboy's chest as he heard a page turn and the principal chuckled. It made him want to stomp on the floor, scream and throw the chair at the receptionist if she made one more derisive huff in his direction.

"Do not." Red's voice was far under the human hearing range, "Calm yourself."

"I'm tired of waiting." Superboy whispered, "He's making us wait."

"It has only been a short time."

Superboy dug his nails into arm of his chair, leaving trails. Red's hand quickly covered his.

"Stop it."

"Its been exactly one hour, fifteen minutes, and fourty-five seconds. I've been patient."

Red shook his head, "Five minutes to go. Consider it training."

"You took my tablet." Superboy had taken that personally, all of Kara's history on Krypton was on it.

"Dinah took your tablet. I merely prevent you from using any of the others' tablets."

Before Superboy could retort, the principal stepped out into the lobby. Another growl bubbled up as the man looked down his nose at Superboy.

Red stopped the boy's hand as it reached for decorative apple on the small table before rising to his feet, his grip forcing Superboy to his feet.

"Mr. Reinold." Red greeted politley.

"Mr. Smith." the balding man nodded, "Conner. I was under the impression that there would be one more joining us for this meeting."

"Dinah had an urgent family matter to attend to." Red supplied.

"Yes, yes. I got her message." Principal Reinold waved Red's comment away, "I was speaking of Mr. Bes, the man listed as Conner's primary legal guardian. I received a call saying he was going to be here."

Superboy's eyes lit up as his brain supplied information on the term Bes. Red's mechanical lungs seized for a second as his search provides relevant information.

"Well, I guess we'll have to start this meeting without him. Please, follow-"

"I'm sorry I'm late." a familiar voice cut in, sending a shiver down Red's spinal strut, "I just got out of a meeting that took longer than expected."

Superboy's grin threatened to split his face apart as he turned to look at the speaker. His hair was a bit longer than it had been before and Superboy frowned at the glasses, but the green eyes were just as he remembered them. The vest and dress shirt were a shock, but the black jeans weren't.

"Ukr!" Superboy had his arms around the man before he knew what he was doing, "You made it!"

A part of Superboy's brain questioned why he was so excited to see a man he had met twice, who inflicted him with a childhood and semi-permanent toddler brain.

But he didn't really care, the man before him was the first person to genuinely express concern for his well-being with no strings attached and gave him the childhood he never would have gotten otherwise.

Semi-permanent toddler brain was strange like that.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, you know that." the man replied as he returned the hug before addressing Red, "John, good to see you again."

Red nodded, "I am glad you could make it Mr. Bes."

"John I've told you before, just call me Jin."

The principal coughed, "Well then, with all the parties here let's take this conversation to my office shall we?"

The four men made the short walk down the hall, Superboy keeping pressed to Jin's side. Red was processing so fast Superboy would swear he could hear the thoughts.

"Why are you so cold" Superboy mumbled, "It's 80° out."

"Pesky winter spirit objected to breakfast." Jin muttered back, "And Tornado, please don't call the League down. I'm here for Conner, not a fight."

"We shall see."

  
Superboy rolled his eyes as the principal shuffled through papers, like the man didn't know what the stupid meeting was about. Jin squeezed his shoulder before folding his hands and setting an expectant look on the principal.

Superboy almost giggled as the principal jumped, his nose catching the faint smell of electricity.

"Well, I hope we all know why we're here." Mr. Reinold started, "And I hope we all can come to a solution we can agree on."

"I'm here because you have called Conner a liar and cheater on numerous occasions in regards to his academic work." Jin leaned forward slightly, "But I have the feeling that isn't what you're talking about, so why don't you tell us so we're all on the same page."

The principal choked on his next words, shock written on his face. Superboy would have chuckled, because he refused giggle like Robin says he does, if he hadn't seen the look on Red's face. He didn't want to get in more trouble than he already was.

"Yes, well." Mr. Reinold stuttered for a moment, fidgeting with his tie, "Um, I believe this meeting was…um."

"It was in regards to Conner's failure to attend classes on a regular basis." Red's voice was neutral, but Superboy would swear that he could hear a hint of irritation.

At who, he couldn't guess.

"Yes." Mr. Reinold quickly regained a measure of his composure, "I'm sure we all understand that there are a certain number of days that a student has to attend in order to both pass their classes and move on to the next grade."

Superboy rolled his eyes at the familiar speech. He had heard it several times when the principal had managed to corner him before he could leave the building.

"The minimum number is one hundred and eighty full days." the principal continued, ignoring the teen's reaction, "Conner has entered the school exactly fifteen times, one day for each week school has been in session. He doesn't attend classes, he simply visits all his classes before leaving. I have records to show that he has only attended one full day of classes and that was his first day."

"I see, and how has this affected his academic standing?" Red questioned, shooting a glance a Superboy.

The teen ignored him completely.

"That is where our accusations of academic misconduct and plagiarism factor into the conversation. He has maintained perfect grades in all of his classes, barring gym which requires his full attendance and participation to pass. This should be impossible without attendance in classes."

"Conner?" Jin spoke up before Red could come to Superboy's defense or the princial could continue his like of thought, "Anything to say?"

"Why do you think I stop in once a week?" Superboy grumbled, "To get the work for the week. I bring it in the next week or if it's urgent bring it myself on a certain date."

"And who authorized them to allow this?" the principal asked, his tone bordering on disrespectful.

"Sometime after I finished half the years work after the first day, they kind of just rolled with it." Conner sniped back, "And to quote the physics teacher 'nobody is going to learn anything with you in my class.'"

"I have heard nothing of the sort from any of my staff."

"Well, your head is so far up your own--"

"Conner!" Red cut the teenager off before he could finish, "That is enough!"

The room was silent as the principal sat in shock while Superboy folded in on himself under the looks from the two adults.

"Excusing Conner's disrespect." Red began, "I fail to see how it is a problem if he is managing to excell in all of his classes."

"Our system strives to not only provide the best educational environment but also an optimal environment for emotional and social growth as well. And, from what my counselors tell me, Conner is showing signs of a significant lack of development in that department."

Red's face twisted with uncharistic anger as both he and Superboy leapt to their feet.

"Your unprofessional conduct is clearly--"

"Just who the hell do you think--"

Jin watched the three argue, cataloging the smug smirk on Reinold's face, Red's carefully calculated outrage, and the red glow building in Superboy's eyes.

It wouldn't do to have Superboy give his identity away by blasting his principal with lasers.

"Enough."

The arguing ceased as Jin slowly rose to his feet. The red in Superboy's eyes faded as he followed the unspoken command to sit back down. Red's processors whirred as they analyzed the situation before he sat down as well.

"Conner, tell Mr. Reinold where you go when you're not here." Jin prompted with an encouraging nod.

"My internships at Starr industries and at STAR Labs." Superboy mumbled, "And I have an interview for one at Wayne Tech tomorrow, and Queen Industries on Friday."

"If you expect me to believe this without proof, you must think I'm an idiot." the principal glared at the man, "Anybody could walk in and say their child has those internships."

Conner reached into his pocket and tossed two badges into the desk, "I would prove about the interviews but that would be petty since I haven't gotten the internships yet."

Reinold snatched up the passes, scrutinizing everything about them before placing them back on his desk.

"I will be in contact with the Board of Education about both your conduct in this meeting, which has been recorded, and your treatment of the situation as a whole." Jin stated as he grabbed the passes off the desk, "Effective immediately, I am withdrawing Conner from this school. Have a nice evening principal Reinold."

Conner scrambled to follow Jin as the man made his way out of the office, a triumphant smirk on his face. Red shook his head as he followed the two out of the office, this was nothing but trouble.

"That was an unwise move Breaker." Red stated as he watched Superboy tear through a large sunday, "There were other options than simply removing Conner from-"

"Conner, were you happy going to that school?" Jin interrupted, "And please, call me Jin. It cements me in this dimension."

"Nope." Superboy chirped, ignorant of the mess on his face, "It sucked."

"Language." Jin and Red corrected at the same time.

"And my only regard is for his happiness, considering he called me back with how upset he was. I would have done something different if his education was at stake, but it wasn't even being challenged." Jin took a bite out of his own ice cream before continuing, "His emotional and social skills are the concern and there are better venues for that to be addressed than his former school."

"Like what?" Red questioned.

"Funny you should ask.…"

Superboy ignored the conversation in favor of his ice cream, ignorant of how he had shifted from teen to toddler. Let the adults talk, they would fill him in later.

* * *

  
Happy Harbors child care was the only center of its kind in all of Happy Harbor. Based out of the rennovated elementary school, there was nothing but good things said about it. Sure, the toys weren't always the newest and they were a little short staffed but it had a great atmosphere and loving staff.

But everyone was local, which made the new tour coming through the talk of the center. Nobody new had moved into town, other than that Morse girl who started attending the high school a few months ago and she lived outside of town.

Claire tried her best not to be too curious.

"Hi, welcome to Happy Harbors!" Claire kept her voice chipper, "I'm Claire, we spoke on the phone."

The first man nodded politely as he scanned his surroundings with sharp blue eyes, "Hello."

"You'll have to excuse John." the second man said with a easy smile, "He's had a stressful couple of days. My name is Jin, and I'm glad to put a face to a name."

Claire shook his hand, "The same. And I take it that cutie on your shoulders is Conner?"

The boy in question blushed and hid his face in Jin's hair. She found it odd that he had a black and green Batman shirt on, she had never seen one quite like that before, and those glasses made him look cute even if they hid his bright blue eyes.

"Don't be shy kiddo, say hi." Jin tapped the boy's leg with a finger.

"Hi." Conner mumbled.

Knowing better to push a shy child, Claire handed the standard packet to John, who leaded through it with alarming speed.

"Do you want a tour of the whole building or just his class and the play rooms?"

"The whole building, if it's not too much trouble." Jin replied, ignoring the looks he got from the other.

"Absolutely. We'll start in the nursery and work out way up. Our youngest group starts at six months…"

Claire was in charge of tours, she loved giving them and had given just about every tour in the past five years. She had seen parents who only cared about the bare minimum and parents who wanted to know what brand of paint was used on the walls.

But this pair, they were watchers. They listened to her information, smiled and greeted the teachers, but always took a moment before Claire introduced the to watch the room as it ran. Sometimes John would question something and Jin would point out the reason or a reaction.

In the toddler room he had even caught a biter moments before the child bit someone.

"I have to ask," Claire finally broke down, "but have you worked in child care?"

"For a few years I did." Jin nodded, keeping one eye on watching what would be Conner's class.

"I see." Claire nodded, "so shall we go meet Conner's class?"

The two men looked to the boy, who bit his lip for a moment before nodding.

The first thing, Claire was glad to note, Jin did was put Conner on the ground.

"Go check it out kiddo." Jin gave him a tiny push, "look around. You don't need to hear the boring teacher talk."

Claire's heart melted at the pout the boy gave the two men. John's did too, as he reached into his bag and passed off a stuffed bird.

"You will be fine Conner." Claire was a bit shocked at the near monotone, "We can still see and hear you."

"New toys. Check em out." Jin supported.

"Fine." the toddler mumbled before shuffling off to investigate the puzzles.

It only took a few moments to cover the normal curriculum, schedule, and other things that happened in the room day to day. Then she pulled the head teacher, Ms. Emma, and introduced her.

"Any questions?" She asked when she covered just about everything.

"Is there room for him to start tomorrow?" Jin asked, his eyes tracking Conner as he moved onto the coloring table.

"As long as you can drop his paperwork off with him, absolutely."

"He'll need stuff for nap. Crib sheet for the cot, a blanket, a sleep toy of he wants one." Emma chimed in, "I always suggest bringing in some extra clothes, in case of food spills and such."

Claire sighed at the tone, for all Emma was good with the kids she wasn't always good with parents.

"Also any diapers or pull-ups he might need."

"He's fully potty trained." John stated quickly, his attention fully on the woman.

"He's pretty much potty trained." Jin edited, "we've found if he has one accident it's likely he'll have more. And Conner if you throw that you at me it's going right back in the bag."

Claire's attention snapped towards where she had seen the boy, and sure enough the stuffed bird was raised high and ready to be thrown. She watched the stare-down carefully and sighed when the toy was lowered.

"He is very sensitive about his accidents." Jin explained, "and they don't happen often. But once he's off, he's off. So I'll make sure some pull-ups get left here."

John groaned, "Be certain he cannot reach them. He will attempt to throw them away. He is a kind child but this is a sore spot."

"Not a problem. We have a wide range of potty trainers here, so no worries. Anything else?" Emma asked again.

Claire was going to hear it from her at the end of the day for giving her this boy, she could hear it now.

"Well, it's better not to ask him about his parents." Jin's tone told her this was going to be a good one.

"We accept families from all walks of life here." Claire started quickly, "but if you don't want us to discuss your family situation…"

"No, no. Nothing like that " Jin interrupted, " Me and John aren't a couple. I'm Conner's adoptive father, John is his uncle? That's the best term for it."

"Oh. I'm sorry, I just assumed."

"No, not a problem." Jin cut her off again, "and Conner don't laugh too hard, you might pee."

The boy in question snorted as he carefully drew on a piece of paper.

"Conner's biological parents lost their rights after it came to light that they tampered with his genome." John explained, "It is a upsetting topic for him."

"I see. Anything serious?" Claire knew nothing about gene modification but it was something she needed to know for his file.

"He's just a bit more advanced for his age than normal. Faster, stronger. That kind of stuff." Jin shrugged, "we jokingly call him our little hero in training."

They all chuckled about that for a moment.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad, Claire thought to herself. A little odd, unconventional even, but the boy was healthy and his parents nice enough.

Tomorrow would be interesting.

* * *

  
Superboy was ready to go home. He was tired, he was getting hungry again, and if he had to listen to one more of his new classmates break down he was going to cry himself.

The day hadn't started off bad, or even gone badly.

Jin and Kaldur had dropped him off after the others went to their own schools. He had to introduce Kaldur, who was his brother as far as anyone was concerned, to Ms. Emma because Jin was busy in the office and she had to know Kaldur because he was picking up today.

Jin had explained on the way over, in his very nice sports car, that someone different would do that part each day so everyone could be cleared to pick him up.

Except Robin, who couldn't compromise his identity and was too young to be able to pick up. Tomorrow was Artemis' turn!

He was dropped off, with one last hug from Kaldur and a kiss on the forehead from Jin, while everyone was still playing.

To his surprise, that was what a lot of his day was: playing.

Blocks, puzzles, coloring, cars. He even tried to play a bit with the others, copying their games and racing cars.

They even played outside for an hour or so. That made him nervous, he didn't want to accidentally break anything on the playground.

After that there was some boring learning stuff he tuned out, a kind of fun project with finger paint, lunch, nap.

He even calmly, which is the important part, told his teacher he didn't need pull-ups for a nap. Jin was being over cautious, Superboy reasoned, because he was dry all day and didn't need the stupid things.

He was broken from his train of thought when he was scooped up by familiar arms.

"Jin!" Superboy giggled as he twisted around until he could wrap his arms around him.

"I see there is no love for me then Conner." Kaldur smiled from his spot by the gate.

"Kaldur!" Superboy squirmed until he was passed off to his teammate.

"How was your first day?" the Atlantean asked.

"It was great! First we--"

 

It was later that Breaker, Jin he firmly reminded himself, found himself lying on the couch with Superboy soundly asleep in his arms. Everyone else has already gone to bed or gone home, but the toddler had insisted on finishing the movie.

"More like the movie finished him." Jin chuckled to himself as he pulled a blanket over both of them.

It wouldn't hurt to spend one night with the kid.

"How did his first day go?" 

Red's robotic voice was just on the edge of kryptonian hearing as he appeared in the doorway.

"It went great." Jin couldn't keep the smile off of his face, "He had fun, he played with other people. He was happy."

And as far as he was concerned, that was the only thing that mattered.

Judging by the look in Red's eyes, that's what he thought too.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, please feel free to leave a comment, I love hearing from you guys.


End file.
